Comic-Con 2006: Hands-on: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

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It's amazing. It's on the way. It's in our hands right now.

By Mark Bozon

Since Castlevania hit the Game Boy Advance just after the system's launch, it's been nothing but pure gold. Even Harmony of Dissonance, which is considered to be the weakest of the series, is still an amazing package that does the series justice. But while the GBA titles were great games, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for DS is the only one that, in this reporter's opinion, comes close to the pinnacle side-scrolling adventure game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. In fact, it's the pursuit of dethroning what is considered by many to be one of the world's greatest games - my personal favorite - that keeps the Castlevania series reaching to such heights, as we see it again in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Whether or not this is will be your first Castlevania game or not, Portrait of Ruin is destined for greatness. Spring-boarding off the previous DS adventure, Portrait of Ruin again combines the now legendary gameplay that brought the Castlevania series into the next generation. Rather than sticking with level-based gameplay that was (despite the pun), very two-dimensional, Konami gave new life to the series by adding in a very balanced level up structure, free-roaming environments that feature some of the best adventure level design since Super Metroid, and a ton of diversity in gameplay. If a player wanted to go through the whole game bare knuckled, they could. If they wanted to focus on magic rather than steel, it was an option. The Castlevania series has morphed into the definitive "go anywhere, do anything" 2D series, and it's secured its place in history for it. Portrait of Run is no different from its predecessors, though it brings a different kind of variety to the table altogether.

Though they're still apparent in Portrait of Ruin, level ups, new weapons, and intriguing worlds are now commonplace in the series, and it takes more than a new package and storyline to truly innovate. Luckily for us, Konami isn't out to disappoint, including a new two-player swapping mechanic that was tried out in a very minimal way during the bonus completion of Dawn of Sorrow. Players can take control of not one, but two vampire hunters, using a combination of classic whip attacks with Jonathan Morris, as well as witchcraft with Charlotte Orlean. The design is still being worked out, so Konami would only share very basic concepts with us, but the overall design will allow players to command the extra character at any time with the touch screen, or simply allow them to follow behind you (almost like a familiar from Symphony of the Night), attacking as it pleases. In puzzle situations, players will have to use both characters in tandem, which promises to be an awesome addition to the puzzle atmosphere of the Castlevania series.

From what we've played thus far, it really isn't a question of whether or not Portrait of Ruin is amazing, rather it's a question of just how amazing it is. Mark Nix went hands-on with the game at E3 just a few months ago, and went as far as to say Portrait of Ruin may be the best Castlevania title on any system, period. While I'll reserve my ranking until I play through the final copy, any game that's sparking this much interest during pre-release is bound for greatness, and that definitely says something about where the Castlevania series is going. The visuals are unparalleled in comparison to previous handheld versions, and the music is simply amazing. But does Portrait of Ruin have what it takes to dethrone Symphony of the Night? Can it heighten the bar set by Dawn of Sorrow? We're going to enjoy watching it try.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin has no final release date yet, though we are tentatively expecting the Japanese version to hit sometime in late December or early January, with a US version following shortly after. We'll have more on Portrait of Ruin, including new gameplay details and media, as development continues. In the meantime, we suggest you play through a few of its predecessors (again and again if the case may be), as the series continues to outshine itself with every continuation.